The goal of Iowa ARES® Winlink Weekend is learning and practicing the use of the Winlink programs to prepare for their use with the agencies we intend to serve, as well as supporting ARES® itself.

We will be practicing the various message forms we can expect to be asked to use.

Messages are to be sent any time on Saturday or Sunday, Central Time.

Specifics for Check-in weeks:
Use the basic Winlink Check In template which is in Standard Templates, in both GENERAL and MAPPING-GIS forms.
Enter WINLINK WEEKEND, using the Setup button.
In Comments: call sign, first name, city or town, county, state, mode (Winlink HF, VARA FM, VHF packet, etc.)
Example: WB0GAG, Bruce, Muscatine, Muscatine, IA, VARA HF
Fill in the remaining entries as you wish, but make your location data accurate "enough".
You can save your data for reuse with the Save Check In Data button.
If you don't want to include your own phone number, use (any area code)-555-0121, which is not in use anywhere in North America.
Click the Submit button and follow the prompts.
Send any time Saturday or Sunday, preferably by radio (RMS), although you can use Telnet if you are just starting or can't get a radio connection.
Eastern Iowa and Illinois are on 145.610 MHz, packet Winlink. We are working to extend deeper into Iowa.
Send to WB0GAG. Check the exercise scenario for any additional addresses.
Peer to Peer (P2P) volunteers are welcome and don't need to be available for the whole time. Notify WBØGAG of the hours, band and mode you want so it can be added to the web site.

September 14-15, 2024

EXERCISE, EXERCISE

The physics teacher and social studies teachers at the local middle school heard are happy with your ham radio presentation to their students.
Thank them for the opportunity by using the After Action Review and sending it to the teachers, the principal and the members of the club who participated.

Sally.Von.Humboldt@CentralCityMiddleSchool.edu teaches social studies.
Joe Newton@CentralCityMiddleSchool.edu teaches physics.
Tisha Robichau@CentralCityMiddleSchool.edu is the principal.
KZ0HM and KA9MP helped to present, and are active Winlink users.
The time for the presentation was 1:15 through 1:45.
Thursday, Sept.12 was decided for the presentation.

Start a new message and select Standard Templates > GENERAL Forms > After Action Review.txt.
Enter WINLINK WEEKEND, using the Setup button.

1. Incident Name: enter Amateur Radio Introduction Page # enter 1.
2. Operational Period: enter the date and times from above.
3. Name: enter your name and callsign.
4. ICS Position: enter Chief OR club member.
5. Home Agency and Unit: enter your club name.
6. Resources Assigned: fill at least 3 lines of participants,including KZ0HM and KA9MP.
7a. What Was Planned? if you have a copy of the School Presentation submitted Aug. 31 or Sept. 1, use the Objective(s) (item 8).
      If you don't have a copy, invent what you would seek to present.
7b. What Actually Happened? Describe how your presentation went.
7c. Why Did It Happen? list the planning steps and thank the teachers for their participation
7d. What Are We Going To Do Next Time? list any improvements and enter your
call sign, first name, city or town, county, state, mode (VARA HF, VARA FM, VHF packet, etc.)
8. Prepared by: you. Date/Time: click to set.

Save a copy for later if you wish, review your message, then click Submit.

RMS submission

In the message composition window, make sure "Send As:" is set to Winlink Message.
Check "Request message receipt" if you wish a confirmation message.
Set "To:" to WB0GAG. Add any others you would like to receive the message.
Set "Subject:" to Iowa Winlink Saturday.

When you are satisfied with the message, click "Post to Outbox".

Send as normal. If you have no radio capability yet, use telnet.

Peer-to-Peer submission

In the message composition window, make sure "Send As:" is set to Peer-to-Peer Message.
Check "Request message receipt" if you wish a confirmation message.
Set "To:" to N7BBI.
Set "Subject:" to Iowa Winlink Saturday.

When you are satisfied with the message, click "Post to Outbox".

VARA HF P2P

Set Open Session" to Vara HF P2P.
Open a session between 7AM and 10AM, Central Time Saturday.
Send to N7BBI, dial frequency 7090, bandwidth 500.

VARA FM P2P

Set Open Session" to Vara FM P2P.
Open a session between 10AM and1:00PM, Central Time Saturday.
Send to N7BBI, dial frequency 145.73.

When you are satisfied with the message, click "Post to Outbox".

Send as normal.

Specific suggestions are welcome, especially incident scenarios and which forms to use. Planned scenarios include:

• Railroad derailment - Hazardous Material Spills
• Flash floods
• Plane crashes
• Hill slides
• Tornados
• Earthquakes
• Search and Rescue operations
• Marathon and parade communications